


Happy Birthday Lena

by Axle007



Series: Supercorp moments [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Evil Genius Lex, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Kidnapping, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axle007/pseuds/Axle007
Summary: Lex kidnaps both Lena and Kara on Lena’s birthday, as a gift to his sister Lex decides to impart some changes on the pair.(Lex using a healthy cocktail of drugs, magic, torture and surgery imprints Kara with an undying loyalty to Lena, Lena is disgusted at this and refuses to see Kara after they are freed leading Kara to descend mentally)
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Series: Supercorp moments [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558378
Comments: 15
Kudos: 227





	1. Happy Birthday Lena

…Somewhere underground:

Lena’s head was throbbing violently, as she sat up the change in angle for her head made the throbbing worse causing her to wince in pain, nonetheless she persevered, her eyes started off blurry but after a few blinks and wiping the sleep from her eyes her vision became clearer. Scanning the room the walls were mirrored which gave off a disconcerting feeling of being watched while she was resting in a hospital bed wired up too all sort of machines around her, she couldn’t make out any obvious door or way out and the ceiling consisted of bland grey tiles and lights. Lena threw the thin hospital blanket off from on top of her and onto the floor before realising that she was in the same clothes that she had started the day with… though as she thought about it she wasn’t sure which day it was or how long she had been out, she was wearing a smart black suit and trousers however she was free of her heels which was a little disconcerting as someone had to of removed them. She set about removing the wires from her causing the machines to alarm, but she continued undeterred, she did stop however when the crackling of a speaker came to life.

“Awake so soon?” The voice sent a chill down her spine, she’d recognise it anywhere, Lex’s signature smug voice. Lena spun her head around as she spoke attempting to find its source.

“You know what they say about family, they never let you sleep in.” If Lena was worried or scared, her voice didn’t show it, she wasn’t going to give Lex the satisfaction, so she put on her best CEO appearance.

“You can’t sleep in… it’s such a special day.” Lux responded with a menacing chuckle. Lena however was calmed a little by the statement, he was referring to her birthday which meant it was at least the same day and Lex hadn’t kidnapped her for long before she awoke.

“I’d expect something more like poisoned flowers than a check-up.” The sarcasm and contempt were quick to fill Lena’s voice which was only met by more chuckling from Lex, that angered Lena the most and she was sure he knew it, acting as if he had already won.

“How did you think I got you here?” Lena’s mind flashed for a moment as she remembered her assistant Jess passing her a delivery of flowers when she was in her office before sighing in frustration, chiding herself for making such a simple lapse in security. She blamed Kara for the lapse, after finding out she was Supergirl they had been on thin ice together and she was expecting some as a predictable peace offering.

“And where is here?” Lena asked hoping to at least gather some easy information.

“Well where you get your main present of course…” Lex stated it like a matter of fact that was predetermined. “All you have to do is walk up to the wall to your left and touch it.” Lena’s head darted to her side as she slowly stood up, keeping her head locked on the wall and rotating the rest of her body to be facing it, she checked herself before walking over slowly. She half expected to be followed by the mocking voice of Lex, but he stayed uncharacteristically quiet.

As she placed her palm onto the wall it slowly faded from a mirror revealing another room like hers except it lacked proper lighting save for a faint red sun light in the centre of the ceiling making it hard to see inside, just as she was about to turn away and ask Lex what was inside the room was bathed in light from its ceiling and Lena’s eyes widened in surprise.

She was met with the trembling curled up form of what was undoubtedly Kara, the room was devoid of anything other than the Kryptonian, Lena’s eyes remained locked onto Kara who merely reacted to the turning on of the lights by tightening her arms that were wrapped around her legs keeping her head nestled down to her chest.

“What have you done?” Lena’s could hear the tremble in her own voice as cracks in her armour showed, she and Kara may have fallen out over her lying but she would never want her to be some pawn in one of Lex’s games.

The crackle of the speaker was promptly followed again by Lex’s voice. “Well I’ve given you something you’ve always wanted.” Lena could hear the contempt for Kara in his voice.

“Which is?” Lena feared the answer, but she couldn’t help Kara without knowing what could turn the strongest brightest person she had ever met into a trembling mess.

“Someone who will never betray you.”

Lena frowned, it was unlike Lex to be so vague, besides Kara had already betrayed her. She turned her head back to her room addressing his voice. “Stop the games Lex, you’d never leave a super alive if you had a chance to kill them.”

“True but I stumbled upon something much worse than death, besides it’s your birthday after all, what type of brother would I be if I murdered your best friend on it?”

Lena turned her head back to Kara as she processed what Lex had said, what did he mean by worse than death, before she could ask Lex continued his little monologue.

“I needed something that would prove to me if you were truly a Luthor or not. Well, Lena I present to you the powers of a god in the palm of your hand. Supergirl is now permanently leashed to you, her powers are controlled by you, her life is in your hands.” Lena felt the colour drain from her face however before she could properly break down what Lex had said the panel which she was staring at dropped into the ground dropping the barrier between her and Kara turning their two rooms into one.

Lena stood dumbfounded for a moment, unsure how to approach the blonde. She only faintly heard Lex’s voice in the background.

“Happy Birthday Lena.”


	2. Kara! This Isn't Some Spin the Bottle!

…

Lena stayed frozen as her mind attempted to process the flurry of information she was just given, words like _permanently leashed controlled by you, life in your hands,_ seemed to be dissected and rearraigned as she sought what Lex truly meant, she felt her blood start to boil as she realized that Lex’s insane obsession with aliens had reached new heights and had invaded her life further. Lena was broken out of her racing mind by a small sob followed by a timid quiet voice “Lena?”

Kara had looked up after hearing Lex say Lena’s name over the speaker finding herself conflicted as she was bombarded by a multitude of contradicting feelings, before looking up Kara had felt terrified and powerless, whatever life she had before this room seemed meaningless, the world seemed grey and hopeless and whatever Lex had done to her left her with a splitting headache alongside a feeling of loneliness she had only felt when she was trapped in her pod watching Krypton explode. However after she heard not only did she feel her terror increase she felt a sliver of hope as he said Lena’s name which confused Kara, her and Lena weren’t exactly on amicable ground at the moment but just hearing her name led to a rise of newfound hope and happiness she hadn’t felt since she first put on her Supergirl costume or fulfilling her dream of becoming a journalist.

She could feel the red sun light constantly draining her powers from her but the way how the world seemed to light up when she laid her eyes on Lena felt as if she had her own personal yellow sun standing just on the other side of the room. Kara had almost instinctively spoke Lena’s name her throat pained as she used it resulting in only a quiet sound traveling across the room, though as it reached Lena, she seemed to spring into action rushing over to Kara kneeling down next to the blonde.

As Lena rushed over she was better able to see Kara’s state, she was in a long turtleneck jumper and blue jeans but what really took Lena’s attention was the watch on Kara’s wrist, she knew what her’s was for and hoped that Kara’s was the same, after all it would maintain the façade she wasn’t the girl of steel. She leant down next to her wrapping her into a small hug which Kara gratefully accepted. As she held Kara in the hug she moved her hands in front of herself, running her hands along Kara’s arms to bring them with her they were between their bodies hoping to shield them from any potential camera Lex would have, as she pressed the hidden button which flipped the watch open she allowed a small smile at Lex’s oversight, he was always to focused on his supposed victories to take into account the little people, he saw Kara Danvers as just a role but ignored the attention to detail Kara used to embrace her human side. She pressed the alert button which led to a slight jump from Kara, though her powers were impaired the proximity meant she could hear it and Lena hoped that meant it would also reach Alex and the DEO.

Lena ended the closeness much to Kara’s dismay, but she kept their hands together in front of them, as she did the red sun light above them switched off and Kara’s eyes widened in horror as she didn’t feel her powers return to her.

“What’s wrong Kara?” Lena asked in reaction.

Kara’s eyes darted between Lena’s own and her surrounding as she sought a cause. “My powers aren’t returning.”

Lena turned her head back to the general direction of where Lex’s voice was coming from and shouted. “What have you done?”

Lex sighed in response. “Were you not listening to anything Lena? Let me help you, I said her powers are controlled by you, so tell her, give her a test run.” Lena could sense the sneer in Lex’s voice.

Lena gave Kara’s hand a squeeze of confidence before moving back to rest on her legs giving her friend some space as she thought over what to say as Kara watched on confused by what he was saying but also the continued barrage of emotions she felt, whenever she looked away from Lena the world seemed bleaker and more grey but if she looked at her the colour quickly rushed back in and she felt a warmth like being submerged into the surface of the Sun.

“Kara…” Lena paused for a moment to ensure she had her attention, though she also paused because she had no idea what she was going to actually say, opting to keep it simple. “…You can have your powers.” Instantly Lena was shoved back by Kara with one hand as she threw her glasses to one side with the other, Kara quickly grabbed the sides of her head in pain as her heat vision shot out into the floor causing Kara to scream in pain, after a while eventually the aggressive return of her powers subsided and she brought her breathing under control while finally being able to close her eyes she had bent over resting her head on the ground, it took Kara a moment before she noticed that Lena had come to her side and was rubbing her back in an attempt to make her feel better.

“Kara what’s wrong?” Lena asked the shock in her voice was clear as Kara rarely lost control so viscerally. Kara’s heart skipped a beat as she heard Lena’s voice through her super hearing, it reverberated through her every cell as if she was being pulled towards her, as Kara took a deep breath and sat back up she realized her hearing was entirely focused on Lena, from her voice and heartbeat to the way her blood travelled through her veins, Kara tried to focus on her surroundings but failed, her super hearing seemed locked on Lena for the time being.

“I’m sorry.” Kara spoke defeated, she must have looked so pathetic to Lena, she couldn’t even keep her powers under control.

“It’s okay, it isn’t your fault, It’s Lex’s whatever he’s done is to blame.” As Kara turned her head she struggled to look Lena in the eye but thankfully she was met with an outstretched hand, looking down she saw that Lena was holding her glasses, Kara reached out for them and thanked her for returning them except before she could grab them her hand touched Lena’s fingers and she froze as warmth spread up her arm and into her core causing Kara to hold her breath, she wanted to keep hold of this feeling forever but was broken out of her stupor by Lena.

“Is everything alright?” Lena seemed guarded which was unsurprising considering Kara had just lost control of her heat vision.

Kara nodded before accepting her glasses and placing them back on herself. As she sat up, she lowered her glasses slightly and scanned the walls looking for a way out, but her eyes struggled to focus, she could see through but everything lacked depth it was as if everything was piled onto a single layer. She turned to Lena. “I can’t see a way out.” Before looking down to her wrist which held her super watch and she gave Lena a small smile as she spoke quietly so Lex wouldn’t hear. “Good idea about the watch.” “Why didn’t you do it?” Lena asked instantly, slightly louder and Kara brought her eyes up to Lena’s.

She replied normally, unable to describe how she felt in hushed tones. “It’s hard to describe but before I saw you standing there everything seemed hopeless, like I was trapped back in my pod just as Krypton exploded.” Lena nodded in understanding, but any response was cut off by Lex interceding in their conversation.

“And what do you feel now?” The way how Lena asked struck both Lena and Kara, Lena seemed unsure for a moment as if she had crossed a line after how rocky their relationship had been recently while Kara felt an almost overwhelming calmness and happiness as it Lena asking meant she still cared for her. Kara tried to define how she was feeling and combined them with what her powers were doing and did her best to put them into words as she looked up to Lena.

“I feel… safe with you…” She nodded towards Lena. “…My powers seem to be… I’m hyper tuned into your presence in a way I can’t describe, I can feel that just the thought of you being in danger pushes my abilities to new heights, I could go faster to catch you and lift more to protect you...” Kara stopped as Lena rested her hand on Kara’s cheek, she knew this was all part of Lex’s game but she felt touched nonetheless, if Lex’s big reveal was that she was Kara’s switch for her powers then she saw no reason to turn them off, she never desired to hurt Kara or Supergirl.

“And what about the thought of when you betrayed her?” Lex interjected.

Lena witnessed the colour drain from Kara’s face as Kara felt her heart start to race, she was struck by a sudden panic attack and started to rock back and forth in terror grasping her hands to her hair pulling at the roots in an attempt to ground her, Lena tried to comfort Kara telling her it was alright but Kara just shook her head as tears started to flow from her.

“What did you do?” Lena demanded at Lex.

“I didn’t do anything, she betrayed you…” Lex chuckled before his voice took on a much more sinister tone which seemed to make Kara’s panic worse with each word. “…She kept her secret from you for years, playing you like a fool to be laughed at while parading as a friend.” Each accusation strike Kara like a knife before she could feel herself drop deeper into despair she was embraced by warmth as Lena wrapped her arms around Kara trying to calm her, a light bulb lit in her head as she realized what Lex had said.

“Kara it’s okay, you didn’t betray me, I was just upset that you waited so long to tell me.” It was partly true; she was definitely upset but Lena rationalised it wasn’t Kara that betrayed her it was Supergirl and it wasn’t Supergirl in front of her at the moment. Kara’s panic quickly subsided as she was pulled back into Lena’s arms as what Lena had said revitalised Kara who pulled herself deeper into Lena’s hug as she repeated a rapid series of, _I’m sorry_ to her friend. Lena responded by gently shushing her as she was upset at seeing her friend act so distraught.

Lena ended her hug of Kara as it seemed the blonde was fully past her panic attack, though she left her hand holding one of Kara’s for support and just in case she started to panic again. Lex spoke again just as Kara had calmed down as if to further complicate her efforts to keep her friend from panicking. “She can’t lie to you either.” He stated with what was far too much glee and pride in his voice for Lena’s liking though it did strike her, surely that was impossible. Lena thought it over for a moment before landing on a question that she knew would prove him either right or wrong.

“Kara. Who’s Superman?” As Lena asked the question Kara’s eyes shot up to meet her and Lena felt a pit form in her stomach as she watched the colour drain from Kara’s face, the resistance visible as she pulled her hand free from Lena’s own and use both to grasp the side of her head again pulling at her hair hoping the pain would help her break free. Lena felt like a terrible person watching her friend struggle knowing she was cause but she had to know.

Slowly Kara spoke through ragged breaths. “Superman…” She stopped as her fight resurged against the programming, that was until she felt Lena rest her hand on Kara’s shoulder and she saw Lena’s small smile that just screamed _Trust me_ and she did. “…Superman’s name is C-“ instantly Lena’s free hand shot up in front of Kara’s signalling her to stop which she instantly did. Though she could tell Lex was displeased at being so close and being stopped. “Why did you stop her sister?” he growled, his anger evident clearly.

Lena used the hand that was on Kara’s shoulder to tuck a loose piece of hair behind Kara’s ear before answering. “She was gonna say it, so you were right. Kara can’t lie but who he is doesn’t matter to me; I don’t care about Superman… I care about Kara.”

“An undying loyalty and complete honesty. You squander an opportunity to know who he is just because you think you care!” Lex’s voice rang out again as he saw fit to undermine and diminish their relationship. “The mere thought of potentially betraying you sends her over the edge… I’ve given you what you’ve always wanted Lena, someone you can trust unconditionally, someone who unconditionally trusts you and someone who will never betray you.”

Once Lex had finished there was an eerie silence, Lena was unsure if he would continue his tirade but she also wanted to redirect Lex’s focus on her and not Kara since it was clear he was enjoyed watching her panic and fight whatever he had done to her, so she decided to flip the table on him. After a moment the silence was broken by the laughter of Lena. “Did no one ever give you a dictionary dear brother?” Kara remained frozen as Lena seemed to taunt her sibling. “It isn’t unconditional, it’s based on the condition that whatever you have done is permanent and you assumed that this is what I’ve always wanted. You’ve skipped all the steps as usual, the most important part of trust is the journey of how it’s built not just how strong it is.”. They both waited for his response however, the predictable retort from Lex failed to happen as just as the radio crackled alive there was a crashing sound before it cut off leaving the two in ominous silence.

Sensing a new threat Kara sprung to her feet scanning the walls that surrounded them, as the radio cut off it felt as though Kara’s powers had finally recalibrated at the prospect of a new threat to Lena other than her brother. Completely being able to use her powers properly drew a sigh of relief from Kara though she noticed the still constant background beat of Lena’s heart much like how one becomes accustomed to a ticking clock in a room. As she spun her head around scanning with her powers she saw a doorway back in Lena’s room on the other side of the bed, looking further past she could make out multiple different people in uniform carrying weapons which caused her worry to peak.

“Kara?” Lena spoke in reaction to Kara jumping up, she had followed the blondes lead and also stood up. Kara walked towards the open divider between their rooms making sure to keep Lena behind her. “There’s people coming.” Kara’s concern was clear in her voice so Lena sought to ease her first by taking Kara’s Left hand into her own for a supportive squeeze. “I trust you Kara.” The second really struck Kara, Lena trusted her, though she supposed it was unsurprising given what had happened but it still hit her all the same. 

Kara steeled herself as the mechanism holding the door in place was released, the wall dropped into the ground revealing a narrow hallway from which a small horde of soldier came charging in, Kara place her free hand out in front of her as ready to strike as she took a step back to give herself from more room, however they failed to raise their weapons keeping them aimed towards the ground which Kara hoped was a sign they weren’t gonna fight. The soldiers remained guarded as if the threat hadn’t yet been dealt with but they also made no move towards her and Lena, from the hallway she heard a familiar voice complaining about the narrowness of it before eventually joining them leading to Kara’s eyes to widen.

“I said one team to secure the baseme-KARA!” Alex’s voice broke from the steel of authority into worry for her younger sister, Alex went to rush towards Kara but stopped after a few steps as she saw Lena behind her causing her to stop and eye her with suspicion.

“The older one is upstairs, should I be putting them together?” the suspicion was clear removing any doubt that her movement could be misinterpreted. Kara turned her head towards Lena who had kept her hand in Kara’s which Alex had failed to notice until now causing her brow to furrow in confusion, Lena gave a small nod to Kara and closing her eyes signalling that she was letting Kara decide. “No, Lex took Lena as well, we can explain it outside, I’d rather not be in here any longer.”

Alex took a quick scan of the rooms and upon seeing the medical bed and machines she could understand that whatever it was must’ve been unpleasant. “Alright, you lot keep searching for anymore surprises. Kara, Lena, let’s go.” Alex signalled for them to follow her as she left.

As they made their way through the Exit Kara took a deep breath of fresh air finally feeling free of that room, before Kara or Alex could speak however Lena spoke, uncertain of how to approach what happened. “Where’s Lex?” the question shot a bolt of fear through Kara’s spine until she saw Alex turn to them with a small smile. “Don’t worry J’onn rushed him to the DEO and after this lasted stunt their reviewing his security measures, he won’t get out again. So… Are you two ok?” Alex’s voice was full of worry but Kara found herself looking to Lena either for permission or to answer, which she honestly didn’t know. Alex had noticed Kara looking over to Lena and was anxious to get answers. “Lena?” Alex asked with increasing impatience.

Lena took a breath as she looked into Kara’s eyes before turning to Alex. “Lex decided to set up a sort of test to force me to choose between becoming another evil Luthor or not.” Lena noticed that as she spoke Kara shuffled increasingly with unease as she was worried how Alex would react to finding out.

“What was the test?”

“Well, there’s no way to beat around it… I guess the best way to describe it is he gave me control of Kara.” As Lena’s words trailed of they tasted wrong in her mouth _control_ was such a Luthor obsession but before she could delve mentally into it any further Kara jumped in.

As Lena finished and Alex processed her words Kara could see the realization process taking place on Alex’s face who almost instantly made a move towards Lena in a demand for more answers and Kara found herself getting between the two before anything could happen. “She makes it sound worse than it actually is.”

Alex’s eyes widened in shock as Kara jumped to Lena’s defence. “Worse! Kara how could it sound worse?” Kara took a step back and rubbed her left shoulder with her other hand as she struggled to put it in better terms. “I’m still me just if Lena were to ask me to do something I kinda can’t say no.”

“KARA! THIS ISN’T SOME SPIN THE BOTTLE!.. We’re talking about your own free will. How did he do it and how do we undo it?” Alex’s displeasure at how Kara seemed to be downplaying everything was really starting to upset her but she tried at least to remained somewhat composed.

“I agree.” Alex’s eyes darted from her sister to Lena who had just interjected her voice between the two sisters, Kara to turned around to Lena. “Agree with what?”

“How do we undo it of course; Lex is a madman he always has a failsafe and I know we haven’t been on the best terms recently but this isn’t exactly how I was planning on dealing with us.”

“So what do we do?” Kara asked though neither of them were quick to respond to her so they remained standing their all 3 of them in an uneasy silence until Alex decided she had to play the role of big sister further.

“What we need to do first is keep you two apart, for all we know each time you tell her to do something could just sink whatever he did in deeper.”

Kara turned back to her sister. “You can’t just force me to abandon Lena Alex I-“ before she could continue Lena rested her hand on Kara’s shoulder cutting her off.

“You wouldn’t be Kara, if I’m in danger you can come rescue me like always but Alex is right.”

“But-“ “No buts Kara. I promise to see you soon, I trust Alex to solve this. Kara tried to retort but Lena shut her down. “Alex, would it be possible to have an agent take me home?” Lena asked causally as Alex responded with a nod. “Thanks for understanding, head to the front, one of the agents will take you back to L-Corp or your apartment.” Lena gave a small smile before taking her leave.

The second she turned the corner Lena released a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding as her whole body felt itself release in relief, the last thing she wanted to do was leave Kara but Alex’s way was the most logical so she had steeled herself with the knowledge that the safest course of action was the best but that didn’t make it feel any less painful that she had essentially just abandoned her friend after what Lex had just done, she felt an urge to try and make up for it but she had no idea how.

As Lena went out of sight of the two sisters Kara found herself instinctively using her x-ray vision to track Lena, the moment she no longer had a direct line of sight the world seemed to dim a little greyer and though her x-ray vision helped alleviate her pain and worry at being separated it wasn’t a true remedy.

Sensing Kara’s unease Alex put her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright Kara, come on lets go.” Alex moved her hand down from Kara’s shoulder to her hand taking it in her own as she directed the blonde towards the DEO SUV she had used to arrive. Alex was worried for her sister, it felt as if she was pulling Kara almost like Kara was dragging her feet unwilling to increase her distance from Lena. Nonetheless once they reached the SUV she followed Alex into the front, Alex gripped the wheel tightly as she struggle to understand what happened and how Kara felt, she had been uncharacteristically quiet since Lena left.

Alex had noticed Kara’s dejected demeanour and sought to distract her with some talk. “Hey good idea with the watch by the way, I’ll be honest we weren’t even sure how long you had been gone but once we got that signal I felt this weight lift off my chest.”

Alex glanced over at Kara but the blonde’s face remained the same as she stared out the window unfazed by Alex’s words.

“The watch was Lena.” Kara stated matter-of-factly and Alex scolded herself internally.

“Hey it’ll be alright; we’ll have this solved in no time.”


	3. Instead you saved me

…4 days later. Thursday, Midday:

Lena sat at her desk typing away, replying to emails as she waited for her next meeting but she constantly found herself checking her phone as she had this nagging feeling since waking up this morning which had nearly derailed her attempts to handle a demonstration of some new technology earlier in the morning as she was constantly checking her phone. This urge annoyed leaving her feeling like some teenager waiting for some school crush, growling at herself in frustration she put her phone back down on the desk and hardened her resolve not to touch or even look at the thing for the rest of the day.

It had been four days since Lena had left Kara with her sister outside whatever facility Lex had taken them to, Alex had messaged her the morning after promising to alert her when she cracks what Lex had done and managed to undo it but after that was nothing but silence but she couldn’t blame her, Alex seemed to be just as much as a hard worker as Lena. Lena abandoned the email spinning her chair around to gaze out the window at the midday sun as she found herself thinking about Kara undoubtedly at either the DEO or Catco until it dawned on her that she hadn’t seen any news coverage of Supergirl in the last 4 days, though she supposed that was due to Kara focusing on undoing what Lex had done, Lena wondered if she should help but knew that Alex would refuse she remembered the look Alex was giving her when she found out. Chiding herself for getting distracted she spun the chair back around and checked her phone, eyes widening in surprise at the ease in which she had broken her earlier determination to not check it, gripping it tightly in anger she threw it across the office and watched it bounce of the wall before landing on the ground.

Lena leant back into her chair taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Almost as if to taunt her as she exhaled her phone started to ring, sitting up in her chair she glared at the phone from her desk, she huffed in annoyance as she stood up a few select people had her number and even less would call her without warning.

Walking over she bent down and retrieved it, flipping the phone so the screen looked up at her and she found herself surprised. _Nia Nal_. Frowning at the name she vaguely remembered giving Nia her number when Kara introduced them but still, calling her seemed like a bold move. Swiping to accept the call and before she could even say her own name Lena was met with a clearly worried voice on the other end.

“Lena thank god, it’s Kara she didn’t turn up to work today and I got worried-“ “Slow down Miss Nal” Lena interjected as she hid her concern for Kara behind her CEO persona. Nia took a breath before continuing. “I got worried and when she didn’t show up I went over to her apartment, she refused to open the door…” Lena noticed Nia pause clearly uncomfortable about whatever she was holding back. “…Lena she has Kryptonite.” “WHY DIDN’T YOU LEAD WITH THAT?” Lena shouted in response before taking a quick breath. “Sorry, I’ll be there asap.” Lena rushed out of her office telling her assistant to cancel the rest of her day as she dashed past her.

… Kara’s apartment:

“Kara, please let me in.” Nia pleaded as she knocked on the door, Kara was slumped against the door preventing Nia from forcing her way in. “You dreamed it didn’t you?” Kara asked, ignoring Nia’s request, Kara’s voice was toneless as if she didn’t have the energy to put her emotions into her voice. “When I knocked on your door I had a vision of you holding some but Kara I’ve seen Kryptonite and that doesn’t look right. Please let me in, whatever is happening I can help.”

Kara banged her head against the door loudly scaring Nia “YOU CAN’T!” Kara failed to listen to Nia’s reply as she zoned out falling back into her mental prison as she looked up at her kitchen table, the last 4 days had been increasingly difficult. Alex had said no Supergirl duties unless strictly necessary so Kara dove herself into her work at Catco. Her first day back since the incident went really well, she met all her deadlines and Snapper only kicked back one of her articles for edits, then she got home. Kara had been so focused on getting back to being Kara Danvers that she forgot the box on her kitchen table, when she got home it was there taunting her, her present for Lena’s birthday all wrapped up in wrapping paper and a bow with a nametag, that had started it. Kara could hear Lena’s heartbeat 24/7 and usually it was just in the background, she knew it was there but it fell into the same level of noise as the clocks on the wall and the traffic outside, until her eyes landed on that present. Lena’s heartbeat forced itself to the front of her mind, every beat seemed to cause her head to pound by the force as she became wracked with guilt, Lena was only in that room because of her, Lex wouldn’t have done what he did if Kara wasn’t friends with Lena, these thoughts kept building and seemed to consume each signal her brain sent giving her increasingly clearer examples of how she had betrayed Lena.

After struggling to fall asleep that first night as Lena’s heartbeat kept her up like a constant reminder of her failure as a friend, it wasn’t until pure exhaustion that she fell asleep. The second morning was remarkably different to the first, Kara avoided even looking at her kitchen table pretending it didn’t even exist, the beat was giving her a deep headache as she struggled to get ready for work on time and work itself was a nightmare, every article she wrote was kicked back Snapper had said something like her head wasn’t in the game and she knew he was right. Flying to the DEO after work Kara didn’t even have to ask Alex if she had made any progress the look said it all, Alex had nothing and when Kara asked if maybe using Lena’s expertise Alex flipped out, Kara wasn’t surprised that Alex was offended about the suggestion but seeing how defensive Alex got still hurt her. With the proof that Alex was unlikely to make any real progress, Kara felt a pit of terror settle in her stomach and she resolved to solve it herself. After another night of almost severe sleep deprivation Kara was dragged out of bed by the constant banging in her head, Kara just wanted a minute of peace but she at least thanked herself that Lena’s heartbeat was relaxed and therefore slow.

Getting dressed she used her portal jumper to fly to Earth-1, landing at STAR Labs doorstep and walked it. She felt bad for tricking Barry and his team but Kara resolved to make it up to them someway once she had done it. It didn’t take long mercifully but they had managed to replicate the Kryptonite to her specifications and she was thankful that they weren’t aware of just how different it would be, after promising to be careful Kara returned home and placed the case containing the Kryptonite on the table next to Lena’s present. She spent the rest of the day catching up on work at Catco and being robbed again in the evening of a decent night sleep.

Today was the same, her head was shaking to the core by each beat of Lena’s heart, she spent the morning meandering around her room trying to build up the courage. Kara had opened the case and gently lifted the Kryptonite out and held it in her hand, the shakiness of it in her grasp angered Kara, she was the girl of steel yet something so simple as a heartbeat had quickly reduced her to some insecure being who sought a quick way out. She didn’t even realize how fast the time had gone until Nia knocked on her door, and she became terrified at someone seeing her this weak so she rushed to lock her door, dropping the Kryptonite back into its case, as she reached the door she collapsed in a heap in front of it as she just managed to click the lock shut.

Kara was drawn out of her hole when she realized something, the beats were getting quicker and it took her a moment before realizing what that meant and just as her mind finally finished putting it together Nia’s voice rang out from behind her. “Kara, I’ve just called Lena, she’s on her way.”

Kara’s panicked and pulled her legs up to her chest wrapping her arms around them as she was unsure what to do, Lena was on her way now and no matter how much she berated Nia would change that and she couldn’t blame Nia either since she was just trying to help. Kara rocked herself as she ran through the options in her head unable to decide whether to run or finish her plan with the Kryptonite, that last thought caused her to look up at the table where both Lena’s present and the case containing the Kryptonite was.

…

Lena tapped her heel impatiently as the elevator leading up to Kara’s floor travelled far too slowly for her liking. As the ding rang out signalling that Lena had arrived at the correct floor the doors opened and she walked quickly towards Kara’s door. As Lena rounder the corner she saw Nia stood outside Kara’s door knocking and pleading for Kara to let her in but if Kara responded she couldn’t hear. “Nia!” Lena exclaimed as she walked up to her “Has anything changed? Did you call Alex?” Nia shook her head “Kara and Alex aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye right now.” Lena nodded then turned her attention to the door and person past it. “Kara, is everything okay?” Lena couldn’t stop the worry in her voice after spending the journey over here scared that she would be too late.

“GO AWAY!” Kara shouted in response. “Kara, I’m not going anywhere, please tell me what you need.” Lena spoke softly in response knowing that Kara’s super hearing would ensure she heard, There was a moment of silence before Kara stuttered out her response. “I-I… can’t let people see me like this.” Lena turned in an instant to Nia. “Nia, you need to go.” Lena spoke in an authoritative tone. “I can’t just leave my friend.” Nia spoke defensively and Lena reacted by placing her hands-on Nia’s shoulders and spoke softly. “I know but don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, Kara isn’t going to open the door with you here.” Nia sagged her shoulder slightly in defeat, she knew Lena was right but still felt bad, Lena could see how sad she was. “Hey, you did good okay.” Nia nodded with a small smile grateful for Lena’s attempt to make her feel better. Nia relented “I’m here if you need me Kara and Lena be careful she’s sat against the door” Lena gave a grateful smile and Nia turned and walked towards the exit and Lena waited until she heard the elevator doors close, Lena walked up to the door and knelt down in front of the door her head resting against it speaking quietly as she did. “It’s just us Kara.”

Lena waited a minute for Kara’s response but was only met with silence, at Kara’s unwillingness to respond Lena persevered at attempting to get her friend to open up. “Kara, I’m not gonna make you open the door, if you don’t want to see me that’s okay but I’m not going anywhere so please talk to me. What’s wrong?” Lena didn’t want to push too hard but nonetheless once Nia said that Kara had Kryptonite she had been on edge. Lena could hear Kara ruffling around through the door which she took as a hopeful sign that was rewarded when the sound of the door unlocking rang out though Lena was cautious so waited for Kara to open the door rather than open it herself.

She heard Kara take an anxious breath as the door slowly creeped open and Lena found herself surprised at who stood in front of her. Kara’s eyes were red and puffy as the dried remains of tears showed prominently on her cheeks and Lena found her reaction catching in her throat. Kara’s eyes were locked to the ground unable to meet Lena’s. “I just want it to stop.” Her voice was just as shaky as her hands were earlier but before she could process anything else she was suddenly enveloped in warmth as Lena surprised both Kara and herself but rushing to hug her. “Want what to stop?” Lena asked determined to help with whatever had done this to Kara.

Kara shook her head then shoved Lena away from her into the doorway but didn’t slam the door instead taking a step back. “Why aren’t you angry with me, god knows you should be. I lied to you Lena. I caused you so much pain, I took the one thing you gave me and no one else and broke it. I broke your trust and lied to you.” If Lena was surprised by Kara’s sudden outburst she didn’t show it and instead she simply repeated what she asked. “Kara, what do you want to stop?”

Kara’s eyes widened and she raised pulled her hands into fists in frustration as if the answer was obvious. “The pain in my head!” Kara collapsed onto the floor as she spoke bringing her hands up to her head grabbing her hair out of pain and in an attempt to ground herself as Lena being so close caused the beating in her head to be as loud as ever, Kara’s head felt like it was always shaking in reaction to each explosive beat. Lena closed the door before running next to her wrapping an arm around Kara’s shoulders as she sat beside her. “And you thought that Kryptonite was the best answer?” Kara froze at how direct Lena was, the serious tone in which Lena spoke seemed to pierce through the fog that had settled over her mind in an attempt to shield her from the pain. “I wasn’t thinking straight okay, it wasn’t the best answer but it was definitely the easiest.” Lena had a sad smile as she realized that she was partially to blame for insisting on separating herself from Kara in such a careless manner. “You know I recently realized that friendships are very rarely ever easy. The fact that you kept me in the dark for so long hurt me more than I care to admit…But once I was able to see the girl behind the cape, well I realized that I know now that it also hurt you.”

Kara slowly relaxed as Lena spoke dropping her hands and raising her head turning it to her side toward Lena. “The pain I felt when I realized that at some point you would find out that I was just as bad as everyone else felt the same as the pain I suffered when I watched my planet explode.” Lena rest her head on Kara’s shoulders before responding. “When Lex told me I didn’t just feel betrayed. I felt unworthy, unworthy of our friendship-“ Before Lena could continue Kara’s head shot up and she pulled away slightly from Lena. “It was because I valued your friendship so much that I didn’t want to tell you… Supergirl, she poisons every friendship I have. It’s always the same, it goes from you and me to you, me and Supergirl, I didn’t want that, I just wanted us, Kara and Lena.”

Lena nodded in understanding as she smiled. “I like the sound of that…” her smiled dropped slightly as she found herself unsure how to ask the second part. “but after what Lex has done do you really think we still can?” Kara seemed to ponder the question before nodding herself. “I’m willing to try if you are.” Kara quickly broke out into a happy smile as a joke passed her lips. “Just try to remember to ask me for things, don’t order me.” Lena gently pushed her. “If I have to order you to eat a salad I will.” Kara’s face crumpled in fake disgust at the prospect of being made to eat a salad.

The two sat there for a while unwilling to break the closeness between them before Lena remembered what had caused her to rush over and she shot up and looked down at Kara with her hands on her hips. Kara looked up slightly confused at Lena’s sudden change. “Now Kara, think of this as a first test of us trying to work around this new thing between us. So, do you want to show me where the Kryptonite is?”

Kara hung her head in shame before slowly making her way up to stand alongside Lena before directing her towards the table. “It’s over there.” Lena smiled gratefully as she walked over, Kara however remained frozen in place scared at the realization that Lena would find out just how desperate she had become. As Lena walked over to the table her eyes jumped from the present placed prominently on the table to the smaller case beside it, gently raising the lid her eyes widened in confusion at the difference in colour to the Kryptonite she had previously seen. Gently she raised it in her hand taking great care in wielding it as she was determined not to misuse the trust Kara had placed in her in handling Kryptonite around her, this caused Lena to smile at the recognition that their first major fallout as Supergirl and Lena was about Kryptonite and now Kara trusted her to hold it around her.

Lena turned around slowly as she held it in her hand taking in the colour before turning her attention back to Kara who stood there nervously. “Kara. Why is it gold? I’ve never seen gold Kryptonite before.” Kara walked slowly towards Lena and rested her hand on top of the Kryptonite clasping it between her and Lena’s hand. “I learnt about it at the Fortress, gold Kryptonite can permanently remove a Kryptonian’s powers.” Lena’s eyes shot up to Kara’s at the revelation. “Why would you want to do that?” “The pain in my head that I felt, it was your heartbeat, no matter what I tried I couldn’t stop hearing it and as I felt more and more guilty it just got louder. I couldn’t think straight, you said that I couldn’t see you, I didn’t know what to do... Green Kryptonite is painful, it attacks the solar energy in my cells but gold well that supresses them, it renders them inert.”

Lena turned around and quickly placed the Kryptonite back in its case before closing it and turning back to Kara pulling her into another hug speaking into her shoulder as she did. “I would have felt like a terrible person if I knew that I had led you to abandon a part of who you are because of the pain I was causing.”

“This isn’t your fault Lena.” Lena shot out of the hug and stared into Kara’s eyes. “Of course it is, I was so scared that I would prove Lex right that I played right into his hand, I almost destroyed Supergirl, he would’ve got what he wanted.” Kara smiled “And instead you saved me.”


	4. How about she does it to you and not me?

“And instead you saved me.” Kara spoke so honestly and truthfully that it struck Lena to her core causing her to smile as she responded to Kara. “We save each other.”

Kara’s eyes wandered to behind Lena and widened in realization. “AH, on a lighter note and I know it’s a tad bit late but look.” She gestured behind Lena who turned around and followed Kara’s pointing towards the present which had remained on the table. “Happy Birthday Lena.” Lena started to laugh. “Kara, honestly you didn’t have to, flowers would have sufficed.” Kara shook her head behind Lena as she remembered her friends earlier words. “Oh no, I needed something that showed just how grateful I am for your friendship.”

Lena took a tentative step forward reaching to undo the bow before slowly lifting the lid. Sitting inside was a key which Lena picked up and inspected it, checking for both sides for any apparent clue to its purpose which remained unclear. She turned to Kara with a questioning expression. Kara took a step forward closing Lena’s hand around the key and wrapping her own around Lena’s own hand. “It’s for my apartment. Superman has his Fortress of Solitude; I have my apartment. I know we weren’t on the best of terms before all of this but I wanted you to know that no matter what was going on between us you had somewhere safe where you could be alone.”

Lena’s eyes dropped to the hand wrapped around Kara’s as she could feel the weight of the key in her grasp seemingly get heavier as the significance of what Kara was saying travelled through her. Lena grabbed Kara with her free hand pulling her into a hug squashing their hands and the key between them as she wrapped the other around Kara, she struggled to hold back the tears while being unable to find the words which could do how she felt justice. Lena’s voice came out uneven and broken. “I-I don’t what to say… thank you Kara.” Normally Lena hated being so emotionally open around anyone but Kara was always different, that’s why she both hated and loved her Kara always seemed to be able to work around every wall she had put up without even trying. Keeping her eyes locked on the key in her grasp Kara tentatively asked a question. “So where do we go from here?”

Lena’s eyes went up to meet Kara’s as she took a breath to recompose herself. “First things first, I’m getting rid of that.” She turned towards the case that held the Kryptonite, as she turned her phone rang out so she pulled it from its pocket and the screen displayed a reminder for an upcoming meeting causing Lena to sigh in frustration. Picking the case up into her spare hand she pocketed her phone and turned back to Kara. “Second, you’re going to go to work, National City’s best reporter can’t be a no show.”. Lena seemed to pause for a moment before stepping up to Kara and embracing her into a hug with her free hand. “And third, when you’re finished at work come by my office, we’ll get dinner and we can talk more then, is that okay?”

Kara giggled slightly as she spoke. “You know, Alex isn’t gonna be happy with you bossing me around.” As Lena pulled out of the hug she looked a little guilty evidently forgetting about the implications of her words. “Something me and her will both have to work on cause I’m not abandoning my friend again.” Lena made her way to the door and pulled it open before turning back to Kara. “Be seeing you soon.” To which Kara nodded in agreement with a small smile.

…5pm, outside Lena’s office:

Kara held a small smile as she walked out of the elevator and towards Lena’s office, a takeout bag in her hand. The thought of dinner with Lena was something she looked forward to greatly during the day after arriving at work and while Nia had a million questions about how she was feeling and what happened she was able to alleviate her friends concerns, the rest of her day was surprisingly productive. Kara opted to knock even though Lena’s assistant had said it was okay for her to go straight in. Hearing the knock Lena beckoned Kara in and saw the takeout bag in her hand.

“Is that Big Belly Burger?” she asked after recognising the smell.

“Of course, a vegan chicken burger with a salad.” Kara finished listing Lena’s traditional order with a small wink.

Lena made her way with Kara over to the sofa and they laid out the food in front of them however before they started Lena turned to Kara with a worried expression. “So we have to figure this out, together.” Kara nodded understanding that the two of them couldn’t just keep avoiding what had occurred, they had to solve it or manage it, either way they would have to do it together. Kara turned to Lena taking one of her hands into her own. “Come to the DEO tomorrow, with you, me and Alex there’s nothing Lex can have done to stop us from solving this.” Lena let her hand fall from Kara’s grasp as she dropped her head in worry. “And what if we can’t, it’s unfair on you…” Lena was cut off by Kara bringing up her hand to her cheek drawing her attention back to Kara’s own which graced Lena with a small smile.

“That would be alright as well, cause I’d still have you.” the earnestness in Kara’s voice caught Lena by surprise. “You say that like it’s simple.” Kara gave a knowing smile. “El mayarah, it means stronger together in Kryptonian. So no matter what, I know together we can do anything. And even if we somehow can’t undo this, then that’s okay to.” Lena turned her eyes down to the bag of food on the table as she spoke. “Why do you always have to be so optimistic?” with a small chuckle Kara responded. “Well one of us has to be.” Lena raised an eyebrow as she returned her gaze back to Kara “Are you saying I can’t be optimistic?” “It’s an infrequent occurrence for sure.” Kara said sarcastically as she started to pull the food out of the bag, Lena gave Kara’s shoulder a small shove. “I can be optimistic.”

The two fell into silence as they ate, Kara was unwilling to break the reverie that had formed around them while Lena was unsure what to say as she had almost finished eating her own food but she found herself pausing frequently constantly being surprised by how Kara was able to consume a horrendous amount of greasy burgers at an abnormal speed. “You’re not hiding.” Lena blurted out without intending, she chided herself for voicing her thoughts out loud. Kara swallowed the food in her mouth and paused her eating as she turned to Lena with a confused expression. “Hiding?” she asked unsure what Lena had meant.

“Normally you’re more reserved when it comes to eating but I guess you were only like that cause I didn’t know.” Lena feared that she was ruining lunch by bringing up how Kara hid herself from her but she had already let it slip that it was on her mind. Kara’s expression dropped to shame as she realized that the fact she hid a part of herself for so long was still weighing on Lena’s mind. “I didn’t mean to hide, not with you. I could just be Kara around you, no pretences, you just saw me because I got to be me… if that makes sense. I had it wrong you know?” Lena raised her eyebrow for Kara to continue unsure what the blonde had meant by her being wrong. “Do you remember when we were fighting Mercy in your lab, I said the Luthor name doesn’t deserve Lena but I had it wrong. The Luthor name doesn’t deserve them, Lex and Lillian. The reason they’re constantly trying to bring you onto their side is because they’re evil and when you’re in darkness the only thing you can see is the light so they want to snuff you out, to bring you down to their level, you’re the Luthor Lena, they aren’t. I guess what I’m trying to say is that with you, Lena Luthor I always tried to be myself.”

“You somehow always seem to render me speechless with how you approach people, if anything I’d say that is one of your greatest powers.”

… The next day, DEO.

“This is a terrible idea.” Alex scoffed as her and Lena went over the test they wanted to run; Kara was yet to be present as Lena had arrived early to run over the plans with Alex. “Yes well it’s the best one to measure and test how it impacts her, unless you have a better idea?” Lena shot back sarcastically. “Yea how about she does it to you and not me.” Alex’s voice equalled Lena’s own sarcasm. Lena turned and gave Alex a gleeful smile “That wouldn’t work since my sibling made sure she couldn’t.” Alex’s sarcastic voice dropped to a small laugh. “Who knew siblings could be such a handful.” Before Lena could respond Kara shot into their lab using her superspeed however instead of her suit she kept her reporter outfit of trousers and a blouse alongside her glasses. “So, what’s new?” Kara asked in her upbeat manner. Lena and Alex shared a look as they both nodded before turning back to Kara, Lena spoke first. “We’ve come up with a test…” She turned to the table next to her picking up a wristband, armband and small button shaped device. “We’re gonna put these on you and measure how your body reacts to certain…orders.” Lena paused before the last word struggling to find a better or more comfortable substitute, Kara put her hand onto Lena’s arm to let her know that it was alright. “Go ahead.” She replied with a small nod.

Kara watched as Lena wrapped the wristband onto her alongside the armband just above her elbow and the small button device was placed onto her temple, sensing her confusion Lena spoke. “This one will measure your brain activity.” Kara made a little oh face in understanding. “Right here comes the hard part. First, you’re not gonna use your powers for this, we need to gather an accurate baseline and if you used them it would be too fast for us to record, the second we’re done you can use them again.” Kara nodded again in understanding, she glanced over at Alex who was being uncharacteristically quiet but she stood there silently not giving away any of the plan, Lena drew Kara’s attention back to her. “Now for the test. I need you to know Kara this is important, I won’t be stopping you okay, we need to get a read on how your body reacts to resisting, how it fights the programming.” Lena turned back to the table and picked up a combat knife before offering it to Kara. “Stab Alex"

Kara froze in place unsure how to react. “Are you serious?” “Kara, is it accurate that the two most important people in your life are in this room?” Kara thought Lena’s question over for a moment. “Aside from Eliza and Alura, yes.” “Since it wouldn’t work if I told you to stab me, Alex has graciously volunteered.” As Lena gestured towards Alex she responded with a snarky smile towards Lena, before turning towards Kara. “It’s okay Kara, I trust you.”

“Kara, stab Alex.”


	5. Nothing Too Fancy

“Kara, stab Alex.” The words rang through Kara’s head just as hard the second time though this time she was left without a doubt, Lena wanted her to do this, she took a step forwards without meaning to which left her shocked. Lena and Alex could see the struggle within Kara as she tried to fight the order. “How does it feel?” Lena asked, Kara took a series of quick breaths as she tried to put her feelings into words. “it’s like my cells have gone to all kinds of extremes.” Lena picked up a table off the table and read some of the readings as she asked another question. “What kind of extremes?” Kara took a few more steps forward. “My hand.” She stated through a strained breath causing the three of them to look down, while Alex and Lena did so at Kara’s direction, the blonde herself did so out of a wish that the knife wasn’t actually in her grasp. Kara’s knuckles were white from how tight she was holding the knife. “I want nothing more than to drop this except I can’t so if I could hold it tighter maybe I’d be able to hold it back. The other extreme of course being that I have to finish what you asked, like a puzzle with one piece missing.”

Lena opened her mouth to ask another question but was silenced by the sudden march forwards by Kara towards Alex who had remained steeled in front of her giving Kara a small smile to let her know that everything was alright. Everyone seemed too stunned at the speed of the scene in front of them, Kara visibly fighting, her hand with the knife drew backwards, the tension in her hand still evident as it shook. As she closed her eyes not wanting to see what she was about to do Kara brought her hand forward in one clean motion yelping out a quick “Sorry” to Alex as she couldn’t stop herself any longer. 

“Stop!” Lena spoke sternly, Kara opened her eyes in shock and relief as the tip of the blade rested against the unbroken material of Alex’s trousers. Kara dropped the knife as Alex pulled her into a hug as Kara kept saying sorry, Alex found herself repeating It’s alright in response to each of Kara’s apologies. as she released Kara from the hug she spoke to Lena. “You said you weren’t going to stop her.”

“Yea well, we got the data we needed and besides she aimed for the leg, can’t have you lagging behind us because of a limp.” Lena responded returning the sarcasm to her voice at the lagging behind comment. “Almost sounds like you care Luthor.” Alex shot back.

“Never make me do anything like that again.” Kara interjected to the both of them knowing that they had without a doubt planned this together. Both Alex and Lena turned towards Kara, Lena placed the tablet back onto the table as she walked over to Kara and pulled one of Kara’s hands into her own, her voice was remorseful. “I promise, we got what we needed, I won’t ask you to do something like that again.”

Alex was surprised at the regret in Lena’s voice when speaking to Kara and in an effort to shift the tone of the room she brought up the second experiment that her and Lena had devised. Don’t worry about it, step two will be a lot more positive.” Kara turned her head to Alex in confusion before having her attention brought back to Lena who started to explain the next step. “We needed to record how both your brain and body reacted to doing something against its will, now we need to measure the reverse. Something you do want to do, so Kara what do you want to do in this moment?”

“Kiss you.” Kara blurted out and in that moment she could feel her face become a shade of red so deep the heat seemed to radiate the air between the two of them into an unbearable warmth that she was forced to close her eyes and dip her head down in an attempt to make herself as small as possible, Kara hadn’t understood the concept of death from embarrassment until now.

Alex let out a small chuckle. “Kara told me you guys had a little heart to heart meal yesterday, she didn’t say it was a date.” Kara kept her eyes closed as the silence from Lena failed to answer the multitude of questions spiralling throughout her head. Was she mad, she only did what was asked of her right, was Lena feeling disgusted, how come that was what I brain brought as the answer to Lena’s question; she’s Supergirl after all how could that be the thing she wants to do most in this moment? Her questions went unanswered until she felt a hand rest on her cheek bring her head back up and drawing her eyelids apart as she saw Lena’s small side smile.

“Kara, how do we know this isn’t because of what Lex did? You said it yourself that you felt hyper tuned to me…” Lena was cut off by Kara taking Lena’s hand from her cheek with her own and bringing it back down in front of them. Kara started talking without any particular plan on what she wanted to say, she just knew that if she stopped she might not have the courage to start again. “I know but before all this happened you were the reason I’ve done so many great things Lena. You were the reason I became a reporter. You are the reason I’m still alive, you’ve saved me countless times from the nanobots to when Kryptonite contaminated the atmosphere. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s no Supergirl and there is definitely no Kara Danvers without Lena Luthor.”

Before Lena had much of a chance to process or respond to Kara an alarm rang out throughout the DEO causing Alex to pick up her own tablet as Kara and Lena turned to her, swiping through some pages she looked up to Kara. “disturbance on 32nd street, someone’s trying to rob a bank.” Kara nodded flying out of the lab leaving Alex and Lena alone, Lena picked up the knife that Kara had dropped and as she placed it back onto a table Alex spoke.

“Kara’s never been good at saying what she wants, just so you know. It took years for her to come to the view that she can have her own happiness, that she wasn’t betraying Krypton by being happy, she equates being happy as though she’s moved on and that moving on dishonours both her surviving and its destruction. I’ve had to push her so hard on occasion to admit that she can even have happiness let alone deserves it, so don’t screw this up Luthor.” Alex spoke sternly making sure her points were taken seriously.

Lena seemed to have recovered from Kara admission as she turned to Alex. “Luthor? Back to last names are we?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I can see that you aren’t your family and I don’t care what your last name is, it’s not that I don’t believe you when it comes to Kara but she is without a doubt blinded by you. She wants to believe everything you do is rooted in well-meaning and goodness, I’ll confess that I had my doubts longer than most people and sometimes I still do, don’t misconstrue that as me saying I don’t trust you; I do. Just I feel that the second I let my guard down when it comes to protecting Kara it’s all gonna come crashing down. It will be my fault, think of it as a trust fall except if you break that trust I will not be catching you, I will be catching Kara and doing my best to make sure she doesn’t retreat inwards again. I heard about how you helped her from Nia, I’m upset that she called you over me but I understand why and while I am not comfortable with what’s happened to her and the influence you now have I see that pushing you away only made things worse. Just remember what I said, Kara struggles to admit what she wants, you much to my dismay have the ability to get it out of her.”

“I understand your desire to protect her and I’ll do my best not to betray your trust.” Alex nodded to Lena before turning and making her way out presumably to help Kara with the situation she was handling, this left Lena alone with her thoughts, Kara wanted to kiss her, she hadn’t expected that, it left her mind blank at the suddenness of the request let alone its potential implications, one thing was for certain Lena had seen what happened when she abandoned Kara and she resolved never to do that again. Lena spent a few moments moving things around the table in an attempt to distract herself since she had come here to run the tests she had nothing else to do, taking a sigh she dropped what she was holding and made her way out towards the command centre.

Lena came upon the realization that she had never actually seen Kara in action properly, sure she had seen Supergirl a number of times but it dawned on her that she’d be seeing everything through a new lens, she understood now why Alex was so much more invested whenever it seemed that Supergirl was injured, they weren’t just partners working together but sisters. As Lena approached the circular table she stood next to Alex and at the centre she saw on the screens in front of her was the view from what she presumed was a security camera within the bank, Kara wearing her Supergirl uniform standing between two armed robbers and the door of the bank. A spark of worry shot through Lena as she saw one of them shoot at Kara and though the bullets ricocheted off of her harmlessly she didn’t feel much better, Alex seemed to pick up on distress and gave a small smile “Yea, you get used to that.” Lena replied back “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“And it shouldn’t, I still don’t like seeing it but she’s doing her part and we do ours, that’s how we save lives.” As Alex finished she brought her hand up to the side of head and placed a finger against her ear. “I know you want to talk them down but I have dinner plans tonight so could we wrap this up.” In an instant Kara had used her superspeed to disarm the would-be robbers and knocked their heads together causing them to collapse onto the floor and soon after police came into view Lena made it that they had thanked Kara before arresting the two men, Kara then flew out of shot and after a few moments she appeared in a gust of wind in between Alex and Lena with a giddy smile.

“So what are your dinner plans tonight then? Taking Kelly out for a meal or are you going to try and poison her again with blueberries?” Kara’s voice was full of energy as she enjoyed teasing her sister. Alex huffed out her response. “I didn’t poison her; I didn’t know she was allergic and besides, she didn’t eat any… If you must know we’re going to that new sushi place downtown, Kelly wants to celebrate an important milestone they reached at Obsidian North. Besides, I know what you are doing trying to avoid dealing with what you said in the lab, I’m not letting you off that easy.” Alex grinned as she finished while giving a raised eyebrow to both Lena and Kara, Kara turned slowly around towards Lena and gave her an awkward smile along a small wave. “Hi.” Lena let out a small laugh at the awkwardness of Kara. “We still have to get the rest of the data we need. Though you’re gonna have to get changed before we start.” Kara became confused trying to process what Lena said, why would she need to get changed. Lena laughed at Kara’s inability to connect the dots and did it for her. “Can’t risk people seeing me kissing Supergirl, imagine how that would impact my stock prices…” she took a step forward closing the gap between her and Kara while lowering her voice so just Kara and Alex would hear. “…But National cities own Pulitzer winning journalist, now that is definitely good for business.” Lena finished off with a wink before spinning around and heading to the lab leaving a stunned Kara and a surprised Alex. Kara turned to her sister “She’s really… I get to… lab.” she struggled to form a coherent sentence until she managed to sputter out. “I have to get changed.” Causing Alex to place her hand on Kara’s shoulder to ground her. “Deep breath.” Alex’s hand was suddenly resting on nothing as Kara vanished followed by the sound of a door but before Alex could even lower her hand she saw Kara wearing her earlier clothes walk through the command centre in a hurried pace while she kept fidgeting with her glasses. This led Alex to move her now free hand up to her face and rub her eyes at the state of her sister.

As Kara entered the doorway of the lab she paused for a moment unsure how to proceed while Lena had her back to her attending to something on the table that was in front of her. Lena seemed to sense her presence as she spoke without turning around. “You can come in you know.” Kara gave a small nod as she stepped in, walking up and next to Lena. “I just wasn’t sure what to do.” Lena turned and faced Kara. “Don’t worry too much, this doesn’t have to mean anything.” Kara tensed up as she struggled with forming her emotions into words. “What if I want it to though?” Lena turned around and picked up the recording devices they had used earlier to place them back onto Kara speaking as she did. “Kara… I went from having a best friend that I trusted utterly to have my back, to having my brother of all people telling me your secret…” Kara opened her mouth to speak but Lena raised a hand signalling that she wanted to finish first. “…I was angry and I felt betrayed by both Kara Danvers and Supergirl. But then I saw you in that room and I didn’t see Supergirl, I saw my best friend who was scared and alone and I wanted to help, northing else mattered in that moment. So, this doesn’t have to mean nothing, it can be something but lets not make it everything.” Kara nodded understanding how Lena felt, her walls had been damaged and she wasn’t quite ready to bring them down again, even for her.

Lena took a step back as she pressed some buttons on her tablet before placing that back down and gestured towards Kara with her arms open, she had to pull all of energy into keeping her voice steady. “Well Miss Danvers, kiss me.” Kara stepped forward getting closer to Lena and before she leaned in Kara froze for a moment as she stumbled mentally, suddenly overcome with nerves, what if she screwed it up, she once broke someone’s nose when kissing them and the idea of hurting Lena even accidently still terrified her. Lena broke Kara out of her worries by placing her hand on Kara’s cheek as she spoke with a small smile, seemingly able to understand what Kara was thinking. “Don’t worry, your not going to mess it up.”

Before she could think about it further Kara grabbed onto whatever reserves of courage she could find and stepped forwards wrapping her right arm around Lena and pulling her in slightly, Lena’s eyes widened in surprise until she felt the warmth of Kara’s lips upon her own leading her to close her eyes as she fell deeper into the hug Kara had pulled her into. Kara’s perception of time seemed to freeze, she wished this feeling could never end, the closeness between her and Lena was a feeling she never wanted to stop having, eventually however and much to Kara and Lena’s disappointment Lena stepped back pulling out of their shared embrace and took a shaky breath. “Definitely not nothing.” Kara was unsure how to respond and instead risking saying something she didn’t mean or plan for she opted instead to play with her glasses nervously, Lena however was familiar with some of Kara’s tells.

Lena brought her hand up to Kara and placed her finger and thumb between one of the arms of Kara’s glasses steadying them and preventing Kara from playing with them. “Relax… I need some time to process the readings but I’ll finish up here and how about we have our own dinner plans?”

“I would like that, what do you suggest?”

“Nothing too fancy, pot stickers and pizza, your place or mine?”

“Yours, CJ’s has the best pot stickers by far and they don’t deliver to mine.”

Lena let out a small laugh, Kara’s predisposition for food never ceased to surprise, though she also got the feeling that Kara had chosen her’s so that Lena would feel more comfortable, after all she could just fly there so the delivery options didn’t really determine who’s place was best. “I’ll need those.” Lena gestured towards the measuring devices on Kara’s arm and temple but instead of Kara’s removing them she disappeared into a blur as she rushed around the lab putting everything back before appearing back in front of her. “Ready?”

Lena brought her arm up for Kara to link her own into as she spoke with a hint of sarcasm. “Seems as though my calendar has just cleared up.”


End file.
